Oil India Limited

Timeline

1. 1887The first oilfield in India is discovered at Digboi in Assam by a predecessor of Assam Oil, a subsidiary of the Burmah Oil Company.Digboi is one of the oldest working oilfields in the world.
2. 1889Crude oil production begins in India, the second such development in the far east.
3. Early 1950sAssam Oil discovers the Naharkatiya field, the first new oilfield in post independence India, under the geologist W. B. Metre.
4. 18 February 1959Oil India is founded as a joint venture to operate Naharkatiya and nearby concessions, with the Burmah Oil Company holding two thirds and the government of India one third.The registered office is in Duliajan, Assam.
5. 1961The government of India raises its stake to 50 per cent, and the company completes its first gas fired power plant at Duliajan.
6. 1962A 401 kilometre crude oil pipeline from Duliajan to Guwahati is completed.
7. 1962A fully automated telemetric pipeline, which remains the lifeline of the company, is commissioned with a capacity to move over 6 million tonnes a year.
8. 1963The pipeline is extended 756 kilometres from Guwahati to Barauni in Bihar.
9. 1982Burmah Oil transfers all its shares to the government of India and Oil India becomes a fully government owned company.
10. 1984Maj Gen SCN Jatar serves as chairman and managing director, the first in a long line of state appointed chiefs recorded by the company.
11. 30 August 1995Oil India is converted into a public limited company.
12. 2005The company completes its 10 per cent participating interest in a 741 kilometre multiproduct pipeline project in Sudan.
13. November 2007A 660 kilometre pipeline from Numaligarh to Siliguri is completed.